NEW YORK CITY — Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is now formally on trial in one of the crucial high-profile federal intercourse trafficking circumstances in latest reminiscence. Jury choice started Monday in Manhattan as prosecutors put together to current proof accusing the 55-year-old Dangerous Boy Data founding father of working a violent, decades-long felony enterprise.
Combs, who has been held in federal custody since September, faces a number of critical fees together with intercourse trafficking, racketeering, kidnapping, and assault. Prosecutors allege he led a community that used medication, bodily abuse, and intimidation to coerce ladies into intercourse acts at his notorious personal occasions, dubbed “Freak Off” events.
In response to federal paperwork, the alleged ring spanned over 20 years, with claims that Combs and associates groomed and exploited ladies below the specter of violence or publicity. If convicted, he might face a long time in jail.
Combs has denied all fees, sustaining by means of his authorized group that any sexual encounters have been consensual, and calling the case a “politically motivated assault on a Black entrepreneur.”
With cameras barred from the courtroom, the general public will depend on court docket sketch artists and each day summaries to trace the proceedings. The trial is anticipated to stretch for roughly eight weeks, with dozens of witnesses anticipated, together with former associates, alleged victims, and federal investigators.
Authorized analysts say the trial might reshape the legacy of considered one of hip-hop’s most distinguished figures, whose enterprise empire contains music, vogue, alcohol, and media ventures. It additionally comes amid a wider reckoning within the leisure business over sexual misconduct and abuse of energy.
Diddy’s attorneys are anticipated to argue that the prosecution’s case is predicated on exaggerations and unreliable testimony, whereas prosecutors plan to unveil a sample of predatory habits hidden behind a glamorous public picture.
The trial marks a shocking fall from grace for a person as soon as hailed as a cultural icon — and its final result might reverberate far past the courtroom.
